More than 1.2 tons of rubbish have recently collected by 80 members of McDonald’s Malta staff and their families at the main green event on the restaurant chain’s corporate social responsibility activities calendar – the annual Clean Up the World Day.
This year, the event earmarked an extensive area around the former Deutsch Welle station site in Marsaxlokk and the Xrobb l-Għaġin coast, extending from Tas-Silġ to the St Paul’s Military Battery to the nature park. It was held in collaboration with Nature Trust (Malta).
“McDonald’s is committed to being a conscientious member of the community,” McDonald’s Malta general manager Dorian Desira said.
“This annual Clean Up the World Day is one of many initiatives we undertake. Our environment-friendliness extends to our day-to-day processes. We recycle cooking oil into bio-diesel fuel and part of packaging cardboard and plastic from our nine restaurants are dispatched for recycling.”
Nature Trust (Malta) president Vincent Attard expressed appreciation for McDonald’s support for its efforts in this area.
“The site helps to promote eco-tourism to the south of the island and is useful for environmental awareness campaigns aimed at thousands of students visiting the park each year.
“We have invested time and money over the past few years to preserve the former Deutsche Welle station site and turn the surrounding area into a nature park for everyone to enjoy.”
He urged visitors to try harder to keep the place clean for others to enjoy.
Marsaxlokk mayor Edric Micallef thanked McDonald’s for carrying out a cleaning activity at Delimara and Nature Trust (Malta) for coordinating it.
He encouraged the environment and heritage authorities to take note of such clean-up activities as being an expression by the people involved to take more care of such areas.
He said Delimara had a rich historical heritage and provided a natural niche in the industrialised south of the island, adding that the council wanted the whole Delimara peninsula to be turned into a national park where people could enjoy natural and heritage trails.